City in talks with MLS for possible expansion

[Falastur]

Very interesting. I have to admit when the story came a few weeks back that a PL team was looking at an IPL cricket expansion I had a notion it might have been part of the supposed City 'expansion'.

However, the thing which really gets me is this: aren't MLS teams actually genuinely very profitable, largely due to the restrictions on wages, transfers etc? If this is going to be a wholly-owned subsidiary team, it could do wonders for the whole "having to break even" thing. Although of course, the stories from Rumenegge are that we no longer need to worry about that... The same could be said of the like of ideas mentioned by JOGAMIGMOG above, such as a Pro-Cycling team. Though peanuts compared to the kind of money Barca puts out, a lot of team sports actually are very good money-spinners.

 

[mcfc83]

It more about raising the profile of the club with lots of cross-promotion etc. I imagine they will be more than happy if the MLS side breaks even but City's profits go up due to the increased publicity stateside.

 

[macmanson]

They should buy Red Bulls New York or whatever they're called this week. I've always thought there was a connection between Manchester and NYC, they both seem to be counterparts.

Good idea, especially with the Red Bulls about to unveil a brand new stadium this year. But I would almost rather see City invest in an expansion club so they can build it from the ground up and show the clubs here how you really build a club, the whole thing, not just what you see on the field.

On a side note, Beckham has it in his contract that he can buy an expansion franchise when he decides to stop playing so that could create an interesting rivalry.

I don't think that Red Bull would be an option. The Red Bull franchise is owned by the company that makes the Red Bull drink and they actually have several teams worldwide as part of a brand building enterprise. They have Red Bull Brasil (Série A3 of São Paulo), Red Bull Salzburg (Austrian Bundesliga) and Red Bull Leipzig (German 5th tier) to go along with the New York Red Bulls franchise. They have also branched out into some extreme sports like Red Bull Crashed Ice which is a sport that is sort of like downhill skiing but on hockey stakes.

As for Beckham, he indeed does have a provision in his MLS contract that allows him to own or co-own a team and he has been heavily linked with the expansion of the Montreal Impact (2009 USL First Division champions) into MLS.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2009/09/08/sp-soccer-impact-beckham.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2 ... ckham.html</a>

MLS is considered North America's 1st tier with the USL first division being the 2nd tier. Both leagues operate on the franchise model, so there is no promotion/relegation between the divisions. The top 2 tiers of soccer in Canada and the US (MLS & USL) are jointly goverened by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) and the United States Soccer Federation (USSF). The USL has undergone a bit of a tumultous time as a splinter group which includes the Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps broke away to reform a new North American Soccer League (NASL) which was to operate at the 2nd tier as well, only to have both leagues combine to operate as one for the 2010 season.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2010/01/07/sp-usl-nasl.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2 ... -nasl.html</a>

The Vancouver Whitecaps have already been accepted as an expansion franchise into the MLS for the 2011 season as they have been the most successful team in the USL first division's history. They will join Toronto FC as the second official Canadian MLS club.

<a class="postlink" href="http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2009/03/18/sp-mls-whitecaps-expansion.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/story/2 ... nsion.html</a>

The city of Ottawa has a USL PDL (Premier Development League) team which is considered the 4th tier called the Ottawa Fury who are planning to make a bid for a USL first division team. There was also a rival bid from the owner of the NHL's Ottawa Senators for an MLS expansion team but the bid seems to have gone cold since Ottawa's City council rejected a new soccer specific stadium for the MLS expansion team.

If Manchester City were to invest, I'd live to see them invest in a Canadian franchise personally but that's because I'm Ottawa based and would love to see some MLS level soccer. I hope Montreal and Ottawa are able to become the 19th and 20th expansion teams as I'm pretty sure that a countries top league can only contain 20 teams as per FIFA regulations.

For any North American blues interested in the league pyramid structures, you can find the English, Canadian and American ones here:

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_football_league_system" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_fo ... gue_system</a>

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_soccer_pyramid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_soccer_pyramid</a>

<a class="postlink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_soccer_pyramid" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_soccer_pyramid</a>

 

[No One Understands]

Not to ruin your kombaya moment over here

but any clown who invests in a team where they don't own their players contracts outright is smoking something

Most MLS teams run at a loss, as the sport is crap here

technically they would own the name of the team with 50 million (aka franchise membership fee), a ground if they build one and that's about it

call me mad, but if I had 50 million, i would not want to piss it on simply the name of a team where all of my possibly profitable assets (the players) are centrally owned by the league and not the teams (not to mention the possibility of a player strike due to bargaining disagreements over player ownership), add to that the requirement of building something like 100 million dollar stadium and this becomes a very expensive bad investment

we don't need to be also thrown out of the copa libertadores as well as the chumps league

I doubt that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers fans follow the Manure religiously, one thing does not always lead to the other simply by association, otherwise I would have met Kevin Bacon by now

Marketing will not even bring back ten percent of the investment over ten years

it's what we call a nonstarter!

The only reason it would go ahead are the nike/US connections, if Garry Cook convinces the owners that is

 

[second to none]

New Yorkers = evil...we don't want to be associated with those punk ass douchebags.

Agreed. The midwest is definitely closest to the attitude of the Northwest

What does this mean? The midwest is filled with religious maniacs, illiteracy and farms. Manchester is nothing like that.

I live in NYC, but I'm sorry to say we are the London of this country. Manchester's US equivalent is Boston.

 

[Ireland's Undies]

Another aspect City could really help with over here is developing youth academies. They are just starting to gain a foothold here, and having a club like City, who has one of the most successful academies in the world here to give tips and pointers it would go a long long way.

I was going to mention a similar thing. We could really use the model of a well established youth academy over here. I know there are a few, but I'm sure one from such a successful franchise would be able to draw the top talent in America. If we can convince some of our most talented athletes that the way to go is football and not American football, basketball or baseball (or hockey for that matter), I believe we will begin to challenge on the world stage. Most of our top guys now played as youths because they loved the game, not because there was any real shot at big money or international acclaim. ACADEMY YES!

 

[vbr]

Put it in one of the major cities. San Francisco would do me since I'll be living there by the end of the year.

 

[davymcfc]

sounds like an awsome idea to me. willl increase the profile of the club which cant do us any harm.

 

[acquiesce]

What does this mean? The midwest is filled with religious maniacs, illiteracy and farms. Manchester is nothing like that.

I live in NYC, but I'm sorry to say we are the London of this country. Manchester's US equivalent is Boston.

We're not talking about setting up a team in Iowa (no offense to anyone in Iowa). We're talking Chicago/Detroit/Cleveland/St. Louis aka rust belt cities. City's that had their heart ripped apart by the death of steel. Have you been to Chicago? If you seriously think its full of religious maniacs, illiteracy and farms you're having a laugh. I must admit though you sound like you're from NYC, nice one.

 

[BufordUSABlue]

Being totally impartial here..... :-)

Its got to be Atlanta - has everything.........except CITY!!

On a serious note though, there is a huge untapped talent pool being lost here and if we establish it first, others will no doubt follow, but we will be always leading the charge!

CTID